Review of Smokey and the Bandit

I've never been much of a fan of Burt Reynolds fan, but he happens to star in many 70's and early 80's movies that are right up my alley. We're talking about movies with charismatic macho man protagonists, fast cars, trucks so large they seem to be overcompensating for something else, infantile comedy and flamboyant action stunts. Movies like "White Lightning", "Hooper", The Cannonball Run", "Sharky's Machine", "Gator" and of course the "Smokey and the Bandit" trilogy and I can't help the fact they all star Burt Reynolds. "Smokey and the Bandit" is basically a very simplistic story and approximately three quarters of the film seems improvised at the spot, but a premise like this just can't fail. Two Texan big shots hire the notorious trucker Bandit to illegally transport a lorry of Coors Beer from Texarkana to Georgia in barely 28 hours. Bandit develops a nifty plan where his buddy Snowman drives the beer truck and he drives a Trans-Am in front to divert the attention of the coppers. During the wild and time-pressured ride, Bandit picks up the hyperactive runaway bride Carrie and becomes involved in a testosterone showdown with the fearsome Texan Sheriff Buford T. Justice. You easily forgive "Smokey and the Bandit" for its lack of originality and ideas, simply because everyone involved in the film seems to be so very enthusiast and cheerful. Former stuntman Hal Needham delivers a fast- paced script and taut direction (his other film "MegaForce", on the other hand is a terribly boring turkey) whilst all his cast members are having the time of their lives. Jerry Reed is excellent as the lesser cool sidekick Snowman and he also provides the film with a sublimely irresistible hillbilly soundtrack, including the fantastically catchy songs "East Bound and Down" and "The Legend". Sally Field and Burt Reynolds definitely have on-screen chemistry, but the show is undeniably stolen by Jackie Gleason as the persistent and downright obsessive Sheriff Buford T. Justice. Heck, even his character's name alone is awesome to write and pronounce repeatedly! He has the best lines, allegedly a large part of them were ad-libbed, like when he says to his slow and unintelligent son: "the first thing I'm going to do when we get home, is punch your mother in the face" (referring that the son can't possibly have inherited his stupidity from him).